This invention generally relates to a torsional vibration damper for use in a vehicle driveline.
Vehicle drivelines typically include an engine or power source, a clutch, a transmission, a drive shaft and axles to drive the wheels of the vehicle. One problem that has always been difficult to solve is to eliminate or at least reduce torsional vibrations along the driveline components. Several attempts have been made to solve this problem, however, most have proven of limited value. Moreover, typical design restraints on a vehicle driveline have prevented more than just a few basic designs to be utilized.
One typical attempt at providing torsional vibration control is to include a torsional damper disk in the clutch. Such damper disks typically include a plate with springs and friction washers to provide torsional damping. The dampers within the clutch are typically sandwiched between the clutch plates. Therefore, very tight size constraints have been placed on such torsional dampers because the space within a clutch housing is very limited.
An additional drawback associated with current torsional damper arrangements is that they complicate the design of the clutch and the vehicle driveline. With conventional arrangements, it is not possible to incorporate the clutch into the transmission. Separate components and separate housings for the clutch and transmission are required with conventional designs. This situation increases driveline costs and space requirements.
Another attempt has been to include a torsional vibration damper within a dual mass flywheel arrangement. This typically also included a single disk with embedded coiled springs sandwiched between portions of the flywheel. Again, because typical flywheel arrangements have limited space, the design constraints on such torsional dampers has left them with size and durability limitations.
Those skilled in the art have long been seeking a torsional vibration damper design that will effectively eliminate or at least greatly reduce vibrations along the driveline. This invention provides a unique solution to that problem and avoids the shortcomings and drawbacks of previous designs.
In general terms, this invention is a torsional vibration damper for use in a vehicle driveline. A damper designed according to this invention is not necessarily incorporated into any other components or housings in the driveline; it is an independent component that can be positioned anywhere along the driveline. The inventive damper includes a hub portion that is adapted to rotate with other driveline components. The hub portion supports a disk element that is adapted to rotate with a driveline component. Damping elements such as springs interact with the hub and the disk to dampen torsional vibrations in the vehicle driveline. In one example, friction washers are included between the hub and disk.
A driveline designed according to this invention includes a torsional vibration damper outside of a clutch housing. Another feature of the inventive driveline is having the clutch incorporated into the transmission and housed within the transmission housing.
The inventive design provides the ability to include as many disks or damping elements as needed for a given situation. Moreover, the design of a torsional damper according to this invention eliminates the space and size constraints that have previously prevented effective vibration reduction.
The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiments. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.